Blogging the Latino Workforce

Culture and Leadership

A lot of discussion in the Latino social media world regarding a recent PEW study on Latinos and national leadership. Interestingly, the study found that 64% of Latinos couldn’t identify a leader on a “national level. PEW does a good job of identifying relevant cultural factors for this number; the fact that Latinos not being a monolithic demographic being among them.

My doctoral work centered on Latinos and leadership which is an area that has received minimal attention in the leadership literature. And while the PEW study is indirectly associated with this topic, it does highlight how leadership is perceived differently depending on one’s culture. Many studies provide evidence that people of different ethnicities and cultures have different leadership perspectives – someone’s norms and values create assumptions and expectations. Certainly a complex issue but an interesting one!